College of San Mateo Campus Walk

Photo: Csmwebmaster, CC BY 3.0 (cropped)

College of San Mateo opened in 1922 with 30 students in borrowed high school classrooms. After four moves it settled in 1963 on this 153-acre hilltop above San Mateo, in a campus designed by the modernist architect John Carl Warnecke.

This walk takes about an hour: nine stops, around two kilometers on foot, a few minutes at each. It starts and ends at College Center, Building 10, where most student services live. From there it drops down to the athletic fields, swings past the gym, pool and arts buildings, follows the pedestrian malls to the library and classroom halls, and climbs to the Science Building and planetarium before looping back.

The college refers to its buildings by number, and so does this tour, so the signs on the walls will match. Visitor parking is in Lot G beside College Center on the campus map. The campus is hilly, with stairs on some paths, and all stops are outdoors in public areas. Buildings keep their own hours, so check the college website before planning to go inside.

9 stops on this tour:

College Center - The Front Door

College Heights Stadium - Home of the Bulldogs

Gymnasium and Aquatics - Hall of Fame Row

Fine Arts Complex - Stage, Studio and Song

East-West Mall - Warnecke's Grand Axis

Library - Screens, Books and Jazz

Central Hall and CELC - Where Classes and Clubs Meet

Emerging Technologies - Roofs Meant to Be Seen

Science Building and Planetarium - A Dome on the Hill

Stops on this tour

1. College Center - The Front Door
2. College Heights Stadium - Home of the Bulldogs
3. Gymnasium and Aquatics - Hall of Fame Row
4. Fine Arts Complex - Stage, Studio and Song
5. East-West Mall - Warnecke's Grand Axis
6. Library - Screens, Books and Jazz
7. Central Hall and CELC - Where Classes and Clubs Meet
8. Emerging Technologies - Roofs Meant to Be Seen
9. Science Building and Planetarium - A Dome on the Hill

More tours nearby

• San Carlos History Walk (5 mi) - From Lamchin villages and a stone depot to a 1917 airfield and radio tubes: a walking loop through the City of Good Living.
• Canada College Campus Walk (7 mi) - An hour on a hillside community college in Redwood City: student services, the library, science labs, a theater, two pools and olive trees.
• Redwood City History Walk (7 mi) - Lumber schooners, a dome that outlasted an earthquake and a slogan nobody could prove: a loop through Redwood City's old downtown.
• Menlo College Campus Walk (10 mi) - A one-hour loop around a small Silicon Valley college: where students study, eat, play and live, and the stories behind the buildings.

All Bay Area tours →